Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2009-10: Joonas Korpisalo skated for Jokerit’s U16 team in Finland’s top division after playing his earlier youth hockey with the Karhu-Kissat club. In 22 games he was 13-4 with one shutout and had a 2.28 goals against and .930 save percentage. Jokerit won the U16 championship and in 13 playoff games Karpisalo was 9-4 with 1 shutout and had a 2.58 goals against and .937 save percentage.

2010-11: Korpisalo played with Jokerit’s U18 team in his second season with the club and skated in two games for Finland’s U17 team in international play. Korpisalo appeared in 23 games and in 15 starts was 13-2 with a 2.55 save percentage and .924 goals against. Jokerit reached the U18 bronze medal game and in nine playoff games Korpisalo was 5-3 with 2.87 goals against and .916 save percentage. In two games with Finland’s U17 team he had a 1.46 goals against and .914 save percentage.

2011-12: Korpisalo was the starting goalie for Jokerit’s U20 team and handled the bulk of the goaltending for Finland at the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship. Korpisalo received the Jorma Valtonen Award as the best goalie in Finnish junior hockey. In 45 games he was 28-11 with 4 shutouts and had a 2.04 goals against and .920 save percentage. Jokerit finished first in the regular season and reached the playoff championship series. Edmonton prospect Frans Tuohimaa handled the bulk of the goaltending in the playoffs as Jokerit finished second. In four starts Korpisalo was 3-1 with 1 shutout and had a1.77 goals against and .927 save percentage. Korpisalo was 3-3 with one shutout and had a 3.02 goals against and .902 save percentage in seven games for fourth-place Finland at the U18 WJC. He was invited to the NHL Draft Combine and ranked third amongst European goaltenders in Central Scouting’s final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.

2012-13: Korpisalo, selected by Prince George in the first round of the CHL Import Draft, returned to Jokerit to work with goaltending coach Markus Ketterer. He made one appearance in the SM-Liiga and split the season between Kiekko-Vantaa in Mestis and Jokerit’s U20 team. Korpisalo was the starting goaltender for Finland’s U20 team at the 2013 World Junior Championship. In 18 games for Kiekko-Vantaa he posted a 2.71 goals against and .900 save percentage. He played 13 games for Jokerit’s U20 team and finished with a 2.67 goals against and .914 save percentage on a team that missed the playoffs. Finland got off to a slow start at the WJC, ending up in the relegation round. Korpisalo’s numbers were not impressive, he was 3-2 with a 3.36 goals against and .858 save percentage, but he kept the team in games at times – particularly against the Czech Republic and Switzerland. In the latter game he stopped all five shots in the shootout.

2013-14: Korpisalo battled through injury and adversity as a 19-year-old — playing at three different levels of hockey in Finland. He played his best hockey at the end of the year on loan to Ilves. Playing for one of the weaker teams in Finland’s Liiga, he had a 1.42 goals against and .957 save percentage. He played one game early in the year with Jokerit — allowing three goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Leland Irving in the second period of a 3-0 loss to JyP. Korpisalo played six games in Mestis between Kiekko-Vantaa and also played for the Ilves and Jokerit junior teams. An early season injury kept him out of contention for a spot with Finland at the 2014 World Junior Championship; where Juuse Saros (NSH) led the team to a gold medal. Korpisalo signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets in March 2014.

2014-15: Korpisalo was loaned to Ilves Tampere in Finland at the start of the year — joining Columbus AHL affiliate Springfield following the Liiga season and appearing in three games with the Falcons. He was 0-2 with a 3.20 goals against and .878 save percentage in his time with Springfield. Korpisalo played 38 games for Ilves, sharing the goaltending duties with veteran Juha Jarvenpaa. He was 14-13-7 with two shutouts and had a 2.34 goals against and 2.34 goals against for the 10th-place club. Korpisalo started both games as Ilves was swept by HIFK in the preliminary round, posting a 1.24 goals against and .951 save percentage.

2015-16: Korpisalo made his NHL debut on December 14th in a game against Tampa Bay after beginning of the year with new Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate Lake Erie. Expected to spend most of the season with the Monsters, he has played more than anticipated with Columbus as both Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney have been injured. Korpisalo started 11 straight games at one point before being returned to Lake Erie. He was recalled after McElhinney underwent knee surgery and is expected to finish the regular season in Columbus.

Talent Analysis

Korpisalo is extremely athletic with the prototypical size to be an NHL goaltender. He relies heavily on his strong legs to move smoothly on the ice and has great speed pipe to pipe. He is not afraid to move out of his crease. The only problem with his aggressive nature is that he has trouble differentiating between when to be aggressive and when to stay at home but that should improve with maturity and experience. Korpisalo has shown perseverance after some adversity and injuries.

Future

Korpisalo has played more than expected with the Blue Jackets in 2015-16 as a 21-year-old due to injuries in the organization and has shown promise. While Columbus will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, Korpisalo has shown the durability to play several consecutive games and plays with the requisite short memory. With the mid-season coaching change the club will likely have a much different look next season with John Tortorella having a full off-season to prepare the club. Korpisalo has shown glimpses that he can be part of the Blue Jackets' future.

Photo: Tappara forward Aleksander Barkov should be the highest drafted Finnish player since Mikael Granlund was chosen ninth overall in 2010 (courtesy of Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

The number of players drafted from Finland will likely never again reach the record numbers prior to the 2004-05 NHL lockout. Since that time, NHL clubs have tended to see how players from Finland and other European countries develop and then sign them as free agents rather than drafting youngsters.

Photo: Finnish defenseman and New York Islanders prospect Ville Pokka showed a solid, all-around game at the 2013 World Junior Championship (courtesy of Chapin Landvogt/HF)

For North American hockey fans to understand Finland's seventh-place finish at the 2013 World Junior Championship tournament, all anyone has to do is think back to 2013 gold medal-winning USA's experience at last year's tournament in Western Canada.

Photo: London Knights defenseman and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Olli Maatta leads a solid group of Finnish defenders that could be the main strength of that country's WJC squad(courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

At the 2012 World Junior Championship, much of the focus was on high profile forwards Mikael Granlund and Teemu Pulkkinen – veterans of previous tournaments who were making one last attempt to win a gold medal. While Finland came up short of that goal, losing to eventual champion Sweden in a shootout in the semifinals, the team's fourth place finish would have to be considered a success.

Photo: Ville Pokka could be the first Finnish trained defenseman to be selected in the 2012 NHL Draft. (Ken McKenna/HF)

The country of Finland has produced several top-notch goalies and a wealth of talented young forwards in the past few seasons. The same cannot be said of the defenseman position – though that could change with the upcoming draft.